


Converge

by AceGrace



Series: Lee's Fusion Fall Universe [1]
Category: Ben 10 Series, Cartoon Network, Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall, Codename: Kids Next Door, Dexter's Laboratory, Fusion Fall, PPG, Power Puff Girls
Genre: Alien Invasion, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Apocalypse, Fire forged Friends, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Science Fiction, Survival, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-02-11 21:30:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2083863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceGrace/pseuds/AceGrace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the five most unlikely people enter each other's lives they have to learn to both fight alongside and care about each other in order to survive. Will they be able to stay on the path of Heroes or will they cross that thin grey line in order to keep each other alive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Episode 1: The Wielder

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to their rightful owners.

Every time I looked up at the sky that day it looked greener and greener. When I woke up that morning it was blue like always but as time went on it started to change. At first I thought I was seeing things but then I heard the other kids at school talking about it. I excused myself from class by saying I had official “hero” business that just popped up. Luckily it was one of my nicer teachers who didn’t hate my guts for being a “dangerous freak.”

I contacted my cousin Gwen first. She was in one of her college classes so she was a little ticked when I called, even answering the phone with a hushed, but still seemingly affectionate “What do you want you dweeb?” I explained what was going on in Bellwood and asked what the sky looked like from where she was. She replied with “Now that you mention it, the sky looks kinda weird today, why?”

“Just get yourself and Kev over here as soon as you can.” I told her, and then hung up.  The sky changing from blue to a light green couldn’t be good. Seriously, after six years of  heroics I've developed a kind of sixth sense for when bad things were about to go down. To be honest though just about anyone could figure out something was off, especially if that anyone lived in Bellwood. This town is like a weirdness magnet after all. Except this time it wasn't just Bellwood. For all I knew at the time it could be worldwide, we share the same sky after all.

I remember thinking to myself that “I gotta stay calm. Gotta be cool. Make some jokes” as I dashed out of school and nearly tore the handle off of my car door before getting in. Those sentences circled in my head over and over again until I started my not so long drive to the Plumber Base. That was when I started going through my usual self motivating gloats. The first one went by, “I’m Ben Tennyson! You know, the wielder of the Omnitrix!” I subconsciously reached over and touched the watch-like device that was clamped onto my left wrist when I had to stop for a red light. Once I started moving again I continued my train of thought, “I’m Earth’s greatest hero!” When that didn't make me feel full of myself I went further, “I’ve saved the entire universe more times than I can count!” My signature cocky smile never showed up and I started to get scared.

That was when I realized I didn’t infor-tell Max, I mean Grandpa Max that I was headed over to the base. As I was about to phone in I got an incoming call from my partner, Rook. I answered the call with a rather uncharacteristic angry, but somehow calm sounding “What is it?” Rook was evidently surprised by my outburst as he didn't answer until I goaded him with a much less aggravated “Well?”

“I assume I would be correct in believing that you have noticed the change in the sky, Ben Dude.”  It had been awhile since he called me that. It was a simple miscommunication on both our parts that resulted in me getting a semi-disliked nickname. You’d think that would have snapped me out of it, but it didn't.

“How could I not?” I replied without any trace of emotion. I should have said “No duh I noticed furball!” instead. I didn’t bother to lighten my tone as I said “I’m headed to the base as we speak.” I then ended the transmission. As I drove on I made a final attempt, “What does a big hotshot hero like me need to worry about? The sky turning green!? Pssshhhhhaaaaaaaa, as if that’s scary! Hahahaha, whatever villain of the week caused this is probably lame as all hell! I won’t even need Rook’s help this time, no offence partner!”, but it was too late by now. It had practically been decided as soon as I started speaking to Rook, maybe earlier. I wasn't going to be full-of-himself, cocky, jokey, and somewhat insensitive but still good hearted Ben who wouldn't leave a man behind even if it was completely irrational. No, for this mission I was going to be cold, calculating, no-nonsense-leader who can’t make or take a joke and could get potentially violent, very violent, under the right circumstances. And that scared me.

I tried to remind myself that everyone was a little two faced. That we’re all like coins, we have two individual sides. That’s its okay to act opposite of our usual sides sometimes. But that didn't work when I realized just how different those two sides, my heads and my tails were. I didn't like to dwell on it too much but I have a feeling that the wide deviation between my two selves was caused by the Highbreed invasion. It wasn't the first invasion I dealt with, but it was the first I combated without Grandpa Max being there for me, to guide me. When it had started I was a pretty even medium of  my two faces, but after Grandpa supposedly died my personality just kinda…went off into an extreme, an almost flanderized version of my more serious traits. It wasn't that bad at the time. Noticeable, but not to the point of anyone really caring. The change was understandable. Then the invasion was over and I had jumped to the total opposite of the spectrum. Going from a medium to an extreme is different than jumping from one extreme to another. People noticed, some were confused at my behavior, others were happy I finally was able to be a little more laid back again, while the rest were annoyed at my sudden change.

It’s not like I could help it at the time. I was so happy and relieved that it was over. I had led a team and not a single fatality. Not only that but I brought peace between the people of Earth and the Highbreed. I had the right to gloat didn't I? Especially if it made me feel better, kept my mind off of what I’d do next time something like the Highbreed Invasion happened. However as time went on I've found it more and more difficult to find my medium. The longer I used one side the more extreme it seemed to become. The more it scared me. When I get like this it’s like I can’t feel anything other than neutrality or anger.

I wasn’t surprised of course. When I went into the briefing room I mean. The others could tell. The Plumbers who've seen the worst of this side of me steered clear. Others gave me anxious looks, instinctively started “walking on glass.” They were treading carefully around me, unsure what was wrong. I don’t think I've ever seen Rook so confused in our time working together. He’s only really seen my other extreme and my medium. He’s never seen this. Then I looked at Grandpa, waiting for him to debrief everyone that was there, I couldn't help but notice he seemed sad. He didn't like when I got like this. In fact I’m fairly certain the only person who doesn't mind is Kev, but he was always weird like that, liked solving most if not all his problems with his fists.

Finally Grandpa broke the tension. He started to explain what was going on. There was something coming towards Earth. The Plumbers weren’t sure where it had come from, or even what it was exactly. But they knew it was the reason the sky turned green. They knew it was dangerous. They knew it was big. I wasn’t scared; we had faced these types of things before. If anything I was sad. I was sad because I had a very strong feeling, deep in my gut, that we wouldn't see the blue sky for a long time.


	2. Episode 2: The Boy Genius

I had noticed the anomaly two months prior. It was an average Saturday. Like usual I was creating new ingenious inventions, and rebuilding the many my stoopid sister had destroyed with her enormous stoopid feet and airheaded ways the previous day. Once I had completed these tasks I decided it was a fine day to observe the solar system with my new and improved telescope. To my surprise there was an unidentified green mass in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

“Computer would you kindly analyse the anomaly?” I requested. Ah my lovely Quadraplex T-3000 Computer. My closest and most trusted companion. She was a very special computer.

“Right away Dexter.” Yes, I had designed her with a personality. She was caring, fun to banter with, and she had the ability to get upset at times. As I got older I came to realize she could be a tad sarcastic. This realization brought us new opportunities for our much enjoyed banter but also resulted in us having a few spats. Overall one could probably compare her to a somewhat spunk secretary.

“Oh my...” She said as she received the results.

“What is it? What is wrong Computer?” I queried.

“The anomaly appears to be some kind of organism that is foreign to our galaxy.”

“Another galaxy?”

“Yes, I believe I just said that Dexter.”

“I wonder…” However before I could finish my train of thought a piercing, horrible, banshee like vocalization wailed through the entire lab. I could just barely hear the test tubes on my workbench shatter into minuscule pieces. I immediately knew who it was.

“Deeeeeexteeeeeeer!!!!!”

Yes it was my stoopid older sister Dee Dee. You would think that she would have matured by now, considering the fact she is now fifthteen years old. She hasn’t. She has the same annoying laugh. Same ridiculous stuffed animals.  Oh, and she somehow looks like an almost perfect replica of what she looked like four years ago. Yes my sister still wore ballerina outfits. It didn’t matter where she was or what she was doing, those were the only things she would wear.

My parents and I have actually been asked multiple times if she only has one set of  clothing and if we needed help getting her “properly dressed.” The usual embarrassed, exasperated, often quick reply from my parents would be that her wardrobe consists solely of pink tutus. Yes, many an eyebrow has been quirked by my sisters odd behavior. To my surprise she didn’t break a single thing as she hurtled towards me and Computer. I didn’t even get time to scream “Dee Dee! Get out of my laboratory!” before she pulled me out of my chair by my forearm and took of, dragging me to the transportation tubes that would take us to my room.

“Computer keep an eye on the organism!” I just barely managed to call out before getting sucked upwards towards my room with Dee Dee. The second my rather large bookcase slid open I was once again being pulled by my forearm. As she ignored my pleas for her to stop, or slow down at the least, she dragged me out of my room, down the staircase, into the living room, then grabbed me by the waist, and finally unceremoniously tossed me onto the couch. She had giggled and squealed the whole way, and continued to do so while sitting next to me. That is until our parents and the dog walked in. She had resorted to biting her bottom lip by then.

“Guess what kids! We’re gonna go-Oh Dexter! Were you playing scientist again? How cute!” Ma said in her “Aren’t you just precious!”-tone of voice.   

Her reaction had caused me to look myself over in which I realized that I was still wearing all of my lab equipment. Yes, I was wearing one of my lab coats, which just so happened to have a generous amount of oil stained on it. I was also wearing a pair of safety goggles which were loosely hanging from my neck, and both of my hands were still covered by my purple latex gloves. Dee Dee hadn’t given me enough time to change, and I felt incredibly embarrassed.

“At least she only dragged me to the living room and not outside.” I thought wearily, which made me feel a little better. That is until I looked up at Pa’s perplexed face which only caused my embarrassment to increase tenfold.

“Um, yeah Ma...playing scientist.” I just barely managed to mutter as I looked at my shiny black shoes. You see when I was nine and Dee Dee was eleven I was the one who didn’t care. I was a complete teacher's pet, and I was so busy with my inventions that I rarely even bothered talking to other children. Hec I almost only went outside to go to school and to wherever our parents had decided family night would be. I faintly remember treating a light bulb burning out like how other kids would treat the death of their beloved pet goldfish. If that doesn’t properly demonstrate how different I was from other kids I honestly can’t comprehend what would. Dee Dee on the other hand had cared a lot. All the other girls were interested in things like tennis, ballet, and stuffed pink unicorns. So she followed the trend. However after she met Mee Mee and Lee Lee she genuinely started to like that stuff, and she never stopped liking it.

 

When people started giving her funny looks back when she was in seventh grade because she was still wearing a tutu to school everyday she was either too oblivious to notice or was brave enough to ignore it. I wasn’t either of those. See when a nine year old child dresses up in a lab coat and wears his mother’s gloves while going on and on about science it is considered “adorable” and “precious.” However if that same child is still doing that when he’s eleven he’ll start getting those “What are you doing?” and “How very odd.” kind of looks. About midway through sixth grade I stopped wearing the coat and the gloves outside of my laboratory. I wanted to belong somewhere in all honesty. Infact I had made some genuine attempts to make more friends but I would end up doing something “weird” or “showing them up” without realizing it. It didn’t help my new found self esteem problems when I realized Pa would probably be prouder of me if I was into sports. Honestly, what motorcycle stuntman would want a brainiac for a son? Speaking of Pa…

“Anyway…” He started awkwardly, “Guess what!” he ended with much more excitement.

“What? What!? What!?!” Dee Dee started yelling with so much enthusiasm that she was actually hopping up and down in her seat.

“We’re”

“We’re what!?!”

“Going.”

“Where? Where are we going!?!”

“Camping! For a whole week!”

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Really!?! Yay!” Dee Dee and Pa started talking excitedly, ignoring the rest of us.

“A whole week? Isn’t that a little much.” I unenthusiasticly questioned Ma. It was new I had to admit. We went camping every summer but we only stayed at the campsite for two or three days. Although I really didn’t see a point in having a family meeting over it.

“Dexter I know you don’t like camping very much but your father finally has an extended time off and he wants to spend time with the two of you.” She said in a sympathetic manner.

“Right...I’m going to go to bed now.” I lied as I got up and headed to the stairs. In reality I was going back to my laboratory to see if anything new had occurred or been discovered about the new, very alien organism. I stayed up the entire night, I only had a month before summer break to figure this out.

* * *

It took that whole night and the entire next day to figure out just what it was. As Computer said it was infact organic. Even this early into the story, before the adventure truly started, I suspected that it was sentient. Yes there were several times during my observations where I could have sworn this mass of green had glowing red eyes. That didn’t worry me though. No, what worried me was the fact that it was gaining mass. The asteroids that collided into it were being fused together by the green slime. Then there was the fact it was slowly moving towards Earth. This lead to me wondering if it was parasitic. If that was the case than this thing would more than likely try to assimilate Earth. I continued to write down notes and observations late into the second night until Computer broke the silence.

“I think we should call it Planet Fusion.” She said matter of factly.

“And why is that?” I questioned.

“It just fits.” She was right. This thing was by no means a planet but if it kept gaining mass it could be the size of a planet within a few weeks, maybe sooner. So despite the inaccuracy of the name I conceded and started calling it just that.

* * *

On the second official day I started going to the government about it, or should I plural the word and say “governments”, because I went to several. None of them believed me. They didn’t even bother to check. Morons. Who knows, maybe they knew but didn’t care how I could contribute. Perhaps they were all too busy with their petty wars to care. Or they could have just thought I was some over imaginative kid who was “playing hero.” Either way I wasn’t going to get help from them. I tried talking to other scientists but after the third one said “What do you know? You're just a kid.” on the sixth day I gave up on that endeavor.

In all honesty that Sunday and the first half of the second week was also spent in vain. I had gone around the U.S. trying to contact heroes in their respective cities. When the government fails to take action in this world then people usually turn to their heroes. I tried that. I went to Major Glory, Val Hallen, The Infraggable Krunk, The Living Bullet, White Tiger, and even less well known ones like Snowman and Miss Pell. All I got was “Leave the heroics to the grown ups kid!”, “Aw! Isn’t it the cutest thing when kids want to be heroes too?”, “You got an extraordinary imagination there, Champ!”, and “Sorry shorty don’t got time for a sidekick!”

“Sidekick!? Pah! I’m no one's sidekick!” I remember thinking. “Just why are all the adults in this world useless!?!” I thought to myself as I stormed into the house and slammed the door.

“Dexter are you okay?” Ma questioned me as I walked into the kitchen.

“I’m fine!” I said a little too loudly. “It’s just that I...got in an argument with a friend is all.” I lied...again. I didn’t like lying to her but I didn’t want to worry her either.

“Oh! It wasn’t with Douglas was it?”

“No. Everythings fine between the two of us.”

“Well, I bet you and your friend will make up soon enough!” She said happily. She never did seem to realize I wasn’t hanging out friends, let alone leaving town multiple times that week.

“Right…” It was times like this that I wished Ma and Pa knew about the lab, and all the adventures Dee Dee and I tended to find ourselves in. They had learned about the lab a few times actually. However I’d either use a machine to make them forget or some outside force would cause them not to remember. As I grabbed an energy drink from the fridge I tried to remember why I didn’t want them to know when I was younger.“Things would be so much easier if they knew.” I then proceeded to chug the awful tasting liquid as I grabbed two or more bottles. I’d need all the energy I could get afterall.

* * *

A few days later I finally finished them. The first two were small flat and circular. I built it so it could store things. For example I could store multiple sets of clothing, food rations, and other things within it. You would just have to scan the item you wanted to put in it, hit accept, and then it would be sent into the…well I didn’t really have a name for it yet. I suppose one could refer to it as a subspace suitcase of sorts. I also built them so that it could be used as a communication device between Computer, the volunteer and myself. The reason I needed a volunteer? I had built a time machine. I planned on sending the volunteer just two weeks into the future. That way I’d be home again and settled once they reached their destination and so they wouldn’t miss much in the case I won’t be able to send them back. At first I thought of using Dee Dee as she was one of the few who knew about my lab and often volunteered to be a guinea pig; However, I then remembered the much dreaded camping trip and realized that wasn’t an option. So that’s why I originally asked Douglas.

He had found out about my lab two or so years ago. We were hanging out in my room after school. I was sitting on my bed while he was searching through my bookcase to find a book I had borrowed a week before. That’s when he pulled the book that unlocked my lab. He had immediately run in questioning “Whoa, what’s all this?”. It took me about twenty or so minutes to finally catch him. After we talked I got him to promise not to tell anyone about my lab. Thankfully he had kept his promise so far. Since then he’s gone on a few adventures with Dee Dee and I.

“So you understand what I’m asking you, yes?” I asked him after I explained the situation during lunch. He seemed incredibly befuddled.

“I...guess so. But why me? Shouldn’t you ask someone who’s smart and, you know, physically fit? What if things go to hell by two weeks?”

“Are you attempting to “wuss out” on me?”  

“No dude, I’m dead serious!” He screamed. People were staring at us now, wonderful. Douglas seemed to notice so he said “I’d probably die as soon as I get there!” in what Dee Dee often called a “whisper-yell.” I still didn’t understand how that word could make any logical sense.

“Die from going where now?” Said a mildly familiar voice.

 

I look over to see Jenny Kho. She was average in height, and therefore taller than me, she had short black hair, light brown eyes and dressed like a tomboy. She was Douglas’s friend...I think. In all honesty I didn’t know much about her. I knew she had a caucasian mother and an Asian father because I briefly saw them with her at the last open house. She was on the soccer team so she had to have had at least a B average or else they would have kicked her off. I’d seen her pick a fight with a bully about twice her size once so she was either really foolish or really brave. Now that I think about it her bully hunting nature might be the reason Douglas hangs out with her to begin with. No one would mess with a guy if they knew he had a friend that would willingly punch someone out over a spit ball.

“From going on adventures…” Douglas said in a faux-exasperated tone.

“Adventure?” She curiously asked as she sat down next to him. I groaned inwardly.

“Oh yeah! Dexter and I go on cray-ay-zay adventures all the time, don’t ya know?” He said with a smirk while looking towards my direction.

“He’s not doing what I think he is, is he?” I frantically wondered to myself.

“Do you wanna tag along?” He asked slyly.

“He was. He was! God damn it Douglas I barely know this girl!” I had to bite my lip so I wouldn’t vocalize that last part. I didn’t need any more funny looks today.

“Anything sounds better than having to watch spanish soap operas with my dad.” It took everything I had not to either strangle Douglas or to simply slam my head against the table.

* * *

So this is how I ended up walking home with both Douglas and Jenny on the last Wednesday of the school year. The jerk looked so smug. For one he was weaseling his way out of something, and for two he somehow convinced me this was a good idea. I kept trying to think of something that would have the girl running for the hills but to my greatest unfortunates my magnificent brain couldn’t come up with anything. Not even as we ascended to my room.

“So wheres this adventure you boys been talking about?” She asked with much in enthusiasm and then added “Or are we just playing some fantasy boardgame.” with a giggle. That annoyed me a little. I was a nerd but I wasn’t that kind of nerd!

“Right this way Jen!” He said as he eagerly walked to the bookshelf. “Now which one   was it.”

“I changed it to the red book on the left side of the third shelf.” I instructed. That’s when I looked over at “Jen” and noticed how bewildered she looked. I felt kind of bad. She was either about to be scared out of her mind and think I was some kind of homicidal mad scientist or be stunned into silence. Luckily for me it seemed to be the second as the bookcase slid open. Douglas had practically skipped in, which weirded me out. He was far too pleased with himself. Our adventures weren’t that life threatening were they. I was about to follow when I noticed Jenny wasn’t moving so I nudged her in the back slightly. This caused her whole body to go rigid as she slowly, cautiously walked forward to the tubes that would take us down to the lab. “I wonder if this will affect her mental health at all.” After we got to the lab I instinctually put my lab coat and gloves on.

“Hey, wait!” I heard Douglas yell. This caused me to look up towards them. To my surprise Jenny had started to go onward without us. After she was a good twenty feet away she abruptly turned towards the two of us.

“Dude! This place is so cool, it’s like something out of a cyberpunk movie!” She yelled to us.

“Yup! Dexter is like a boy genius, or whatever.” He said while pointing his thumb at me. “He’s got an ego to match that brain of his too!” Douglas joked.

“I don’t have an ego.” I muttered angrily. So what if I’m brilliant and know it, that doesn’t mean I have an ego.

“Wait, you built all this?” She questioned as she jogged up to me.

“Well, yes, I did.” I said matter of factly.

“Cool! So wheres this adventure?” She said excitedly.

* * *

After we made it to Computer and the time machine I sat her down and explained everything to her. Meanwhile Douglas was writing equations on my chalkboard, apparently to pass time.

“Okay, okay, okay...so you want me to go on a potentially dangerous mission, into the future, so you’ll know just how dangerous this space abomination thingy is?” She questioned.

“Well I was trying to get our mutual friend here to do it but somehow he convinced me to ask you to do it. You don’t have to do it of course, but since I don’t know if I can trust you I’ll have to wipe your memory of my lab if you say no. Sorry.” I informed her while trying to sound sincere about the “Sorry” part.

“Dude! You can totally trust her!” He yelled at me.

“You can never be too sure about people Douglas.” I retorted.

“I’m in.”

“Alright then if you would willing come with me to the memory eraser we’ll - Wait did you just say yes?”

“What did it sound like to you brainiac? Let’s do this thing!” She said with bravado.

“A-Are you sure!?!” I questioned.

“Look brainiac I’ve always wanted to go on some totally out of this world adventure, and you’re practically handing me an epic one of a silver platter!”

“Dexter, I believe this one might be a tad lacking in sanity.” Informed Computer.

“Yes,” I agreed. “However it may benefit our cause.”

“So it’s a deal?” Jenny said as she stuck out her hand.

“I suppose so.” I said as I shook her hand, sealing the deal. “But, if I may ask, what do plan on telling your parents. I’ll be sending you a few weeks into the future and there’s a chance I won’t be able to send you back. If I can there is also a chance you won’t “pop up,” so to speak, on exactly the same day I plan on sending you forward.”

“If that’s the case I’ll just say I woke up just a bit out of town and that I don’t remember anything.” She said.

“A-Alright then…” I said. “Computer was right! This girl really does have a screw loose!”

“Dexter,” Computer said “I recommend that you all start making preparations.”  And so we did.

* * *

After we finished preparations Douglas pointed out that no one would be able to protect the lab from Mandark while I was gone, not even the dog since he was going with us too. I asked him why he couldn’t but then he pointed out it be weird if he went to his friends house if said friend and said friend’s family weren’t even there. That’s when I had the ingenious idea to give Computer a new body. I started building her new mobile body sometime after Jenny and Douglas left that day. With it she could move freely around the lab and protect it from Mandark if the chance arises. Dee Dee had run in as I was about half way done, and to my surprise she once again managed not to break anything.

“Ooooh! Whatcha building baby bro?”

“Oh, this is going to be a mobile body for Computer, you know for when we're away. So she can watch things, keep Mandark away.” I had explained to her. I learned along time ago that when she manages to not break anything it’s usually best not to yell at her. You see when we yell at eachother fights tend to happen. Like actual fights that get so crazy we’ll be engulfed in a cloud of dust or dirt, and when that happens things get broken. That or our positive qualities and our negative qualities get split into separate bodies, said negative versions go around the house cussing up a storm, and once everything's fixed we both end up with soap in our mouths. But I don’t want to think about that particular blunder right now.

“Ugh! I hate that guy!” She yelled. “Hey, you should make her pretty!” She added on in a much happier tone.

“Excuse me?”

“Hey, Computer don’t you want to look beautiful?” She questioned with extra emphasis on the “beautiful” part.

“That sounds rather nice.” Computer agreed.

“But I don’t even - Ugh…” Dee Dee got the gist of what I was trying to say. Which was the fact that I don’t really know what constitutes as pretty. So she stayed to give pointers on how she thought Computer should look. At first she tried to convince me to make Computer’s new body pink, which I refused. Instead the body ended up being different shades of blue with a tad of black. When we finished the body ended up looking similar to a woman in a long dress. Partially because she lacked legs, instead I opted to giving her the ability to hover around instead. She also had a relatively feminine face, Dee Dee’s idea, and the back of her head only served to further the allusion of a woman due to it looking somewhat like hair. If she didn’t remind me of a secretary before she sure will now. It’s funny though, I never really expected to have that much fun with Dee Dee. The new body was hovering next to Dee Dee with a cord in it’s neck that ran down and was attached to a part of Computer herself. That cord would be what transfers her to her new body.

“How does this look computer?” She questioned.

 

“Oh, I just love it!” Well that was a relief.

“Alright I’m going to download you to your new body now.” I informed. “You ready?”

“Yes, sir!” She said eagerly.

“Wow, she’s actually seemed excited about this, didn't she?” I thought as I pressed the series of buttons that would cause her memories, personality, and functions. When I hit the final buttons a number of things began to happen. First Computer’s screen turned to complete static for a few moment. It then turned itself off as an electrical charge sparked and fizzled as it slowly wandered down the length of the cord from her old body to her new one, and the nothing. She didn’t move, nothing else sparked, and everything was quiet. Several minutes passed in silence. Much longer than it should have taken her to boot-up.

“Computer.” I called. “Computer!” Had we lost her? No, that couldn’t happen! She was our friend! She’d been with us for as long as I could remember!

“C’mon you gotta wake up now!” Dee Dee said, sounding frantic.

“Computer….please.”  I said, fear creeping up on me more and more every second. I just wanted the lab to be safe, and Computer had seemed so excited about getting a mobile body. Had we just inadvertently killed her? Did it hurt? I felt like my knees were going to give out.

“Please, wake up!” Dee Dee practically begged. She sounded like she’d break down in tears at any moment.

Just as it seemed hopeless, just as the silence was about to make both of us break down sobbing and run upstairs to Ma and Pa and just let everything out of the bag. So they’d know the reason that their children were crying into their arms. So maybe they’d hug us tighter. That’s when I heard it. It was a buzzing kind of noise, and it was soon joined by electrical little pops. I looked up, and I’m sure Dee Dee did to, at her face and watched as her green monochromatic eyes slowly opened.

“You’re alive!” Dee Dee all but screamed as she hugged her. Computer seemed shocked, and then confused.

“Haha, she had actual facial expressions now!” I remember thinking with an obscenely wide smile on my face. Computer tilted her head.

“Why are your faces all red, Dexter?” She asked confused.

“Just a silly human thing is all, old friend.” I said happily.

“Oh, okay then.” She said with a confused, yet understanding, smile. That’s when Dee Dee stopped hugging her.

“Can we call you Computress for now on?” She asked while looking up at her.

“Why?” Computer questioned.

“Well, it’d be like “mistress,” or “princess,” or maybe “duchess” or something else that ends in “ess” because you're all lady like now.” Dee Dee tried to explain.

“I don’t think I fully understand what you’re trying to say.” She admitted.

“I think what she means is that…it just fits, now.” I said with a smile. She smiled too.

“Alright, then I’ll be “Computress” from now on.” She said happily.

* * *

Today was the day. The day Jenny would go to the future. The day that I’d hopefully find out how Planet Fusion would affect the world, and how soon. How long I had to try and stop it. It was also the day before I’d have to deal with a crushingly boring three hour car ride in order to face the horrors that took shape in a week long camping trip with my family. I looked at Jenny as she stared back at Computress and myself from the inside of the oval chamber she had been put in. She was clutching the com to her chest. Despite this girl’s seemingly lack of sanity she was “there” enough to feel nervous. Unfortunately Douglas couldn’t be here. He had gotten sick. To our surprise he wasn’t lying. He was legitimately sick and his mother wouldn’t let him get out of bed.

“Computress, perform Bio-scan please.”

“Yes, Dexter.” She said as she started taping on the tablet device I had given her.

“Bio-what-now?” She questioned. The mention of the bioscan seemed to make her feel more nervous.

“It’s just to check your health.” I said, hoping it’ll make her feel better. “Why so nervous? I thought you wanted an adventure.”

“Of course I do!” She hollered back. Other than her apparent lack of sanity I had been able to figure out she was also very prideful at times. Those two things are probably the only things that kept her “pumped” to do this. Suddenly Computress started to admit beeping sounds.

“It would appear the volunteer is healthy enough to continue.” Computress informed.

“Excellent! That means your Bio-scan is complete!” I said proudly.

“I figured.” Jenny snarked, I chose to ignore it.

“Alright, let’s make sure that communicator of yours is functioning.” I said as I pressed buttons on the holographic screen in front of me.

“All communication system are functioning, Dexter. I will be able to reconnect with the volunteer upon arrival.” I could have sworn I heard a giggle as she said that, but I foolishly ignored it.

“Affirmative. All right I’m following the main engine now. You may feel a little bump.” I warned Jenny.

“Right...Hey robot lady, can you just call me Jenny?”

“If you start calling me Computress I will.”

“That’s cool with me, Computress.” She agreed. Then her eyes widened as the time machine started to shake. I understandably believed it was a reaction of surprise from things around her suddenly shaking. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“Um, brainiac.” She said worriedly.

“Wow,” I looked over a Computress, completely ignoring Jenny. “are you seeing theses readings?” Computress nodded. “Haha! A fine day for science, indeed!”  Due to my excitement and the noise the time machine was making I again failed to hear the giggles.

“Brainiac! D-Dexter!” I couldn’t hear Jenny’s warning from above the noise.

“Prepare for launch. Three. Two. One…” That was when I heard the dreaded words.

“Oooh, what does this button do?” My head whipped violently to my left. I stared in horror as Dee Dee lifted her finger to press a button on the control console that was barely eight feet away.

“Dee Dee! Nooo!!!” I screamed as I ran towards her but then I heard the click and knew it was too late. Out of instinct I grabbed her by her shoulders and dragged her a bit away from the console, despite there no longer being a point. That’s when the danger sirens went off, red lights were flashing, everything was shaking, and the whole lab was now filled with smoke. Computress had flown up to the pod, attempting to manually open it with her new hands to no avail. I couldn’t see much after that because of the smoke, but once it finally faded the first thing I noticed was Computress’ upset expression. I was sure I mirrored it after I took a good long look into the chamber. Jenny was gone, and I had no idea where or when she was sent due to Dee Dee’s tamperings.

“Dexter,” I looked over at Dee Dee, she looked confused and concerned. “did I just do something bad. I didn’t mean to. I came down here to see if you wanted play video games or something, but it looked like you were doing something important so I just started looking around and then I saw that button and…”

“Dee Dee you…” I paused. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong.” I lied, and I could tell that she knew it wasn’t the truth. “Do you think you could help me finish packing.” I asked. I wanted to get out of here, I felt sick and scared. I wouldn't be able to solve this new problem in my current state.

  
“O-Okay.” She said as she followed me to the tubes. Computress just hovered there all night, wishing she could have done something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: So….sorry if I caused any sadness. I guess. Not really sure if anything here would invoke sadness. Remember this is my attempt at a deconstruction fic and my attempt at analyzing the characters. With Ben I decided he’d have two very different sides of his personality and that he has trouble finding that safe medium. This can cause his friends and family to get annoyed with him easily or become incredibly worried. 
> 
> I viewed Dexter differently though. When ever I thought of an older Dexter I’d always imagined this insecure middle school kid who was trying to fit in. Then there was the fact he always seemed to have trouble relating to his dad, so I threw that in as well. I also believe that Dexter would have trouble getting people to listen to and respect him.
> 
> Then there’s Dee Dee. I always imagined her becoming a strong young lady, but still a ditz and also having a somewhat childlike demeanor. Example of her demeanor being her insistence on wearing tutus. However, it also shows she is a strong young lady who is confident enough in herself to continue doing what she loves. Despite this she still screws up from time to time.
> 
> One thing Dexter’s Lab fans forget is how close Dexter is with Dee Dee. One episode actually showed that he got so use to her being around and destroying things that he gets lonely if she doesn't. I also wanted to touch on their relationship with Computress. She’s been around since Dexter was at least eight years old so she’s a really important part of their lives. I also wanted to show how I think she went from Computer to Computress.
> 
> Jenny Kho appearance is actually based on one of the characters from the loading screen. To be specific the black haired girl who had that cool white and green power armor on. She looked important and futuristic to me so that’s why I chose her to be the volunteer. The other four characters from the loading screen, the Ichigo look alike, the pink clad girl, the really tan blonde boy, and the other blond boy who has his brain in a jar will all also appear at some point in this ‘verse. However I don’t think they’ll be part of the current main story line. That includes Jenny. She’ll have her own “side branch” story after I get ten or so chapters into this story, in which I’ll be attempting to write both stories side by side. I tried my best to make sure Jenny didn't come off as a mary-sue but since she didn't have much page-time I couldn't really show you much about her personality. I also avoided having her and Dexter be “bestest friends” since that’s a surefire way to turn a character into a sue; Instead I had her be an acquaintance of Douglas.


	3. Episode 3A: Always Second In Command

I catch myself thinking back to the good old days more than she’d like to admit. Back when all five of us were together. When it was just me, Two, Four, Three, and...him. Nigel. Numbuh One. Our ex-leader. He left for better things. Gave Numbuh Five his glasses, and with them her role as leader back. That’s right, before he joined the Kids Next Door I was the leader of Sector V. Numbuh 5 was actually happy when he took over, but then he had to leave… I still have the other three though. Well; most of the time. Lately us four have been split up a lot. Can’t say I like that.

Numbuh Two called over to me from the driver’s seat of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. “Hey, Abby!”

“Yeah, what?” I questioned.

“You okay? You seem a little out of it today,” he said, worry apparent in his voice.

“Don’t you worry. Numbuh Five is just fine.”, I lied. We were all getting closer to the age of thirteen. That’s the age when people get their memories wiped and are forced to quit in the KND. Unless they are aloud to join The Teens Next Door; A secret branch of the KND. Numbuh Five is pretty sure she’s one of the only members of Sector V who knows that the TND even exists. I want to tell them. I wanted them all to know that we have that slim slim chance to still be together, and be friends once we’ve turned thirteen, but I’m not allowed to talk about the TND. I wasn’t even suppose to find out, but she did. Which makes me feel guilty.

“Um, Five?” He called over again.

“Hmm?”

“Do you remember where Four and Three were sent? I can’t quit-”

“Mount Blackhead.”, I interrupted. “Yuh know the jungle outpost.”, I continued. “Numbuh Five thinks they’re training new recruits there or something.” Numbuh Two laughed at this.

“Hahaha! That’s right! Man, I can’t believe the higher ups think that having those two train the new kids is a good idea! Kuki maybe, but Wally!?”

“Yeah crazy.” I chuckled half heartedly.

“Hmm, looks like we’re almost at your drop point. Get ready to-” Before he could finish his sentence a something from above collided against the side of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. before descending closer to the ground before,  “Whoa whoa whoa!”, he screamed while trying to regain control. I held onto my seat with an iron grip so I wouldn’t go flying into the other side of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. “What in Sweet Soda Acres was that!?”, he screamed.

“Probably the adults trying to get an upper hand.”, I suggested.

“I don’t think any of the adults we know can do that! Alright, I think I’ve got the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. back under control.”, he informed me. “But what was that?! It was glowing and green!”

“You're right we should go check it out.”, I agreed.

“What?! No, no, no, no, no, no, that’s not what I meant at all!”, he yelled at me frantically.

“Well, what else are we suppose to do?”, I questioned him.

“Go on the mission that we were assigned?”, he asked in an almost sarcastic tone.

“The mission involves Toiletnator. Low priority. Numbuh Five thinks it can wait a little bit, don’t you?”, I said with a smirk.

“Well maybe but…”, he trailed off.

“Numbuh Five thinks you should stop acting like a baby.”, I goaded.

“I’m not being a-ugh! Think about it Five! Going down there is probably a really bad idea. I mean think of all the horror movies that start out like this? Two random kids are having a super boringtastic day. Then, out of no where, a strange green thing crash lands into Earth! Those kind of things never end well.”, Two ranted.

“Which is exactly why we should go check it out. If it’s dangerous we’ll be able to keep it from hurting other kids!” I reasoned.

“But…” He tried.

“Numbuh Five thinks anything will be better than having to waste our time dealing with the Toiletnator.” I goaded once more.

“Ugh! Fine we’ll go check it out. But if I die I’ll haunt you!”

I chuckled at that as he landed the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. near the site of impact. We geared up before we got out. Numbuh Two was wearing his F.L.A.P.P.U.H. and armed himself with a B.L.A.Z.E.R. while I armed myself with a C.H.E.E.Z.O.O.C.K.A. I walked out confidently while he trailed behind me nervously. As we neared the smoking crater I couldn’t help but admit to myself that I was a little nervous too. Of course I’d never admit to anybody,

“Ugh, it reeks!”, Two said as the smoke entered his nose. Which I had to admit was true. In fact it smelled almost as bad as the Crazy Cat Lady’s house! A bit worse than Numbuh Four’s room actually. Both being feats within themselves. As we finally got to the crater I looked down at what had made the hole in the first place.

“What on Earth?”, I heard myself say.

“This can’t be good.”, Two said nervously, “Abby we should get out of here and call for backup.”

I realized he had a good point but I couldn’t look away. This so called “comet” was one of the strangest  things I had ever seen. It was egg shaped and something that looked like vines were growing around it. Neither of those were the reasons I couldn’t look away though. It was the green glow coming off of the “comet.”

“Come on Abby!”, Two said as he tugged at my arm. We didn’t get a chance to move a safe distance away though. What we would later know as a “Terrafuser”, the comet, began to convulse and boil as huge bubbles formed and popped just as quick as they appeared. Each time a bubble popped the “comet” released disgusting smells. Smells far worse than either of us have ever been forced to breath. Then the blobs started to form. They started as bubbles, but instead of popping they filled with a green liquid. As they got bigger they gained eyes and mouths. The creatures then messily separated from the “comet”, leaving strings of goo behind them as they forced themselves further and further away from what had given them life. To a person who hadn’t just witnessed what we did, they were just blobs. Red-eyed green blobs with fangs. To anyone who saw them for the first time they’d probably look cute. Something that wasn’t a threat. In the early days that’s how people got killed. I didn’t let my guard down though, not completely. When they started pouncing at us, I was ready. Shooting them with my C.H.E.E.Z.O.O.K.A. while Two used his F.L.A.P.P.U.H. to get high in the air so he could cover me. As time went on it only got worse. Soon enough my weapon was only half full and the blobs just kept coming, constantly generating from the “comet.” Eventually there weren’t just blobs but also bug like creatures that seemed to have been made purely to chase Two.

“Jeez!”, Two yelled as one of the “bugs” tried tackled him, “What’s bugging you?”, he said

as he fired his B.L.A.Z.E.R. at it. The “bugs” however didn’t go down easily. Infact his pun seemed to make them more determined to take him down. Not that I could blame them.

“Aaaaah!”, he screamed as one successfully knocked him out of the air. “Five! I think it’s time for a tactical retreat!”, he yelled as he started towards the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

“Agreed!”, I said as I ran after him, shooting every few seconds. We made it into the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. but those green blobs of goo weren’t far behind.

“C’mon baby power up!”, Two yelled frantically to the machine, “We need you more now than ever!”, then they started hitting the side of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. The little blobs ran into it full force over and over again while the “bugs” shot green orbs. “Five the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. can’t take this kind of abuse! I need you to get them away from here!”, he yelled at me as he started pulling and rearranging wires and cords.

“And just how do you expect Numbuh Five to do that?!”, I yelled back, “For one Numbuh Five can’t exactly walk out the door! That and the C.H.E.E.Z.O.O.K.A. is empty!”

“Take this!”, he said as he pulled a S.P.I.C.E.R. out from under his seat. “You’re going to have to figure out the rest. Good luck!”, he said as he handed it to me. I sighed as I looked at the door. With what I was about to do.

“Raaaahhh!”, I screamed as I ran out the door and started firing at the blobs. As soon as I started firing most of them ran and flew in the opposite direction. “Hah! Looks like lady luck is on Five’s side after all.

“Bzzzzz”, one of the two bugs that were brave enough to stay screeched as it tried to dive bomb me. Two shots and it went down. The other was smarter, it let the blobs be my main target while it stayed a distance and fired green orbs at me. That’s when the light show started. Horrible red streaks of light began flowing through the sky like waves on a shore. Each time one passed the sky changed color until the bright blue was replaced with a sickly green. Each time a red streak passed I became more and more disoriented, missing my targets. By the time the sky had turned green I felt sick to my stomach, but I kept shooting to the best of my ability. I knew that I had to keep these things away from Two, from Hoagie.

 **  
**“Five I did it! She’s running!”, he yelled to me from the door but when I turned something awful happened. The entire S.C.A.M.P.E.R., and Numbuh Two were covered in a white glow. I reached out to call to him, to warn him, but when I saw it I pulled back. My hand was glowing too. “Abby! Why are you glowing?! What’s goin-”, he didn’t get to finish before my entire field of vision whited out. When I could see again the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. and Two were nowhere to be seen. I could however see that the blobs were a distance away now, far enough away that they apparently couldn’t see me. I distinctly remember thinking “A negative and a positive, great.”, I didn’t get time to dwell on what had just happened to me however. Next thing I knew a green and black car, driving on a road that hadn’t even been here before, was honking crazily as it hurdled right towards me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know Abby talks in third person but translating that into p.o.v. while already having written previous chapter in first person is... hard. So I had to sacrifice a little in order to keep my sanity.


	4. Episode 3B: The Ace Pilot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoagie's perspective on the previous chapter's events.

You know, I can’t believe it sometimes. When I wake up and head over the tree house I half expect to see him. Of course he’s not there and will never likely be there ever again but everyday I still expect him to magically appear and tell us about the adult fanny we would be kicking that day. Doesn’t help that the treehouse is located at his actual house. I can tell it’s the same for the others. When they get to the tree house they do what I do. Look around only to realize that there is a person missing.

Numbuh One leaving hit all of us hard. Right in the heartstrings even. However there’s no doubt in my mind that Numbuh Four has taken it the hardest. We all show, in one way or another, that we miss him. Except for Four. Whenever a mention of Numbuh One pops up, whether it be in battle or out, he doesn’t seem to care one bit. He doesn’t even notice things that remind the rest of us of One. If he does, or if we (or someone else) points that something out he just shrugs and walks away.

His ability to act like he doesn’t care, his denial, is what makes it obvious to everyone that he isn’t handling it all that well. The sad thing is that it’s been almost two years. We’ll all be twelve soon. When you're twelve you only have one year, and then you’re decommissioned. All the time you spent saving kids from adult tyranny will suddenly be gone. Faded and out of reach. You’ll be thirteen, a teenager, and you’ll either not notice (and if you do, not care) about how horribly the kids around you are being treated. Heck you might even join in on the tyranny. If you’re lucky you’ll be able to refriend the kids you had all those foggy memories of adventures with.

To make the empty void of our ever un-present friend and the looming knowledge that we will soon be decommissioned worse we are now being separated to go on missions. Abby and I will go stop the jerky adults in one area and Wally and Kuki will be sent far away to another on their own mission. To make things worse we will likely not see the two of them for a couple of weeks if not a whole month while they’re training new recruits.

As flew the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. towards our designated area I took the time to look over at my sole companion, Numbuh Five, Abby, and sighed. She was zoning out again.

“Hey, Abby!” I called over to her from the driver’s seat of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

“Yeah, what?” she questioned seemingly broken out of .

“You okay? You seem a little out of it today,” I said trying to make the worry as clear as possible. We all hated it when she got spacey. It could get her hurt, badly.

She looked at me for a long moment before saying, “Don’t you worry. Numbuh Five is just fine.”

I had a feeling she was lying but shrugged it off and kept flying. It’s not like I could make her talk about it or anything. After some very awkward silence I realized something. I couldn’t remember where Four and Three had been shipped off to. The pain of guilt pooled in my stomach. So I turned back towards Five and called over to her with a lame, “Um, Five?” The only acknowledgment I got was a “Hmm?”.

Taking that as an okay I asked, ““Do you remember where Four and Three were sent? I can’t quit-”

Before I could finish my sentence she interrupted me with her answer,

“Mount Blackhead. Yuh know the jungle outpost. Numbuh Five thinks they’re training new recruits there or something.”

I laughed at this. The thought of Kuki and Wally teaching anyone anything was incredibly hilarious in my mind. Every time I remembered the fact that they were sent to teach I had to hold back laughter. It just genuinely seems like an impossibility.

Feeling as though she needed some laughter I tried turning the situation into a joke by finally letting my own suppressed laughter out, “Hahaha! That’s right! Man, I can’t believe the higher ups think that having those two train the new kids is a good idea! Kuki maybe, but Wally!?”

The response I got wasn’t what I was hoping but at least I sorta kinda maybe got a laugh out of her. Some time later I realized we were very close to her drop point. As I told her so she could get ready for action something hit the side of S.C.A.M.P.E.R. and whatever it was it hit hard. It was also big, green, and glowing. Man I already had a bad feeling about today. Of course in my totally understandable shock I screamed something along the lines of, “Whoa, whoa, whoa!”, as I tried to steady the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. and, “What in Sweet Soda Acres was that!?”, once it was mostly steadied.

“Probably the adults trying to get the upper hand.” She suggested matter of factly.

I kinda sorta yelled, “I don’t think any of the adults we know can do that!”, before I took a deep breath and said, “Alright, I think I’ve got the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. back under control.” As we looked at each other I asked, “But what was that?! It was glowing and green!”

As if agreeing to a statement that was never made Five said, “You're right we should go check it out.”

“What?! No, no, no, no, no, no, that’s not what I meant at all!” I yelled at her frantically.

“Well, what else are we suppose to do?” She questioned me.

“Go on the mission that we were assigned?” I asked with a hopeful smile.

“The mission involves Toiletnator. Low priority. Numbuh Five thinks it can wait a little bit, don’t you?” She said with a smirk.

“Well maybe but…” I trailed off.

“Numbuh Five thinks you should stop acting like a baby.” She’s was goading me. I knew she was but I couldn’t help but get offended.

“I’m not being a-ugh! Think about it Five! Going down there is probably a really bad idea. I mean think of all the horror movies that start out like this? Two random kids are having a super boringtastic day. Then, out of no where, a strange green thing crash lands into Earth! Those kind of things never end well.”

“Which is exactly why we should go check it out. If it’s dangerous we’ll be able to keep it from hurting other kids!” She reasoned. Her statement, I had to admit, was actually kinda reasonable. Then again this is Five I’m talking about.

“But…” I tried in a last attempt to just turn back.

Goading me again she said, “Numbuh Five thinks anything will be better than having to waste our time dealing with the Toiletnator.”

“Ugh! Fine we’ll go check it out. But if I die I’ll haunt you!” And with that “threat” we were off. Once I landed the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. we geared up. Me with my F.L.A.P.P.U.H. strapped on my back and a B.L.A.Z.E.R. in hand while Five carried a C.H.E.E.Z.O.O.C.K.A.

As we got close to the crater I couldn’t help but note aloud just how bad it smelled with the ever classic, “Ugh! It reeks!”

Once we finally got to the edge of the crater we took a good long look at what had made the hole in the first place. Numbuh Five’s reaction was understandable.

“What on Earth?”

Suddenly, very suddenly, I had a feeling of… well badness. Just being near this thing gave me goose bumps. I looked at her and said “This can’t be good. Abby we should get out of here and call for backup.”

She nodded in agreement but didn’t move. Instead she just kept looking at the weird, slimy, glowing comet like thing that we would later know as a “Terrafuser”.  I grabbed her shoulder to try and snap her out of her daze but when that didn’t work I started shaking her.

I shouted, “Come on Abby!” but by then it was too late. The so called comet began to convulse and boil as huge bubbles formed and popped just as quick as they appeared. They started as bubbles, but instead of popping they filled with a green liquid. As they got bigger they gained eyes and mouths. The creatures then messily separated from the “comet”, leaving strings of goo behind them as they forced themselves further and further away from what had given them life. To a person who hadn’t just witnessed what we did, they were just blobs. Red-eyed green blobs with fangs. To anyone who saw them for the first time they’d probably look cute. Something that wasn’t a threat. In the early days that’s how people got killed. I couldn’t help but thank my lucky Yipper card that neither of us had let our guard down. When those little blobs started trying pounce on us Five immediately went into battle mode and started shooting them with her C.H.E.E.Z.O.O.C.K.A. Meanwhile I took advantage and used my F.L.A.P.P.U.H. to launch myself into the air so that I could hit them from above. However as more and more of the creatures generated from the “comet” are ammo was getting lower and lower. Unfortunately for me that was when “bugs” started spawning out the thing with the sole intention of attacking me.  

As I shot at them I yelled, “Jeez! What’s bugging you?” Brilliant, right? Apparently the freaky bugs don’t know a good joke when they hear one since they kept attacking. Eventually one rammed into my side and sent me tumbling to the ground with a scream. Admittedly shaken I yelled, ““Five! I think it’s time for a tactical retreat!” as I ran towards the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. Five herself not far behind.

When I got into my seat I couldn’t get it to start up, “C’mon baby power up!” I yelled frantically to the machine, “We need you more now than ever!” Then those things started hitting the side of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. The little blobs ran into it full force over and over again while the “bugs” shot green orbs. “Five the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. can’t take this kind of abuse! I need you to get them away from here!”, I told her as I started pulling and rearranging wires and cords.

“And just how do you expect Numbuh Five to do that?!” She yelled at me, “For one Numbuh Five can’t exactly walk out the door! That and the C.H.E.E.Z.O.O.K.A. is empty!”

I leaned down and grabbed my S.P.I.C.E.R. from under the driver’s seat and tossed it to her with a, “Take this!”

“You’re going to have to figure out the rest. Good luck!” I shouted as she slowly edged towards the door. “Man I hope she comes up with a good plan.” I thought to myself. Apparently she had no plan at all since she ran through the door and opened fire with a battle scream that would have made Four proud.

As she fought I did a multitude of things. Pulling, tearing, and reassembling wires. Pushing different levers up and down at different times and speed. Pushing buttons that would seem pointless to anyone else but a KND agent. As I did these things I failed to notice how the sky outside started to change from the blue that everyone will miss to the green that everyone will hate with a burning passion. What I did notice was the sick feeling in my stomach but I pushed through. I had to. If I didn’t then-WAIT! I did it!

With relief for our lives I shouted, “Five I did it! She’s running!”

However as looked over at her from the still open door she, and many if not all of the monsters were glowing a bright white. She extended her hand out as if to say something only to stop when she saw it. Worriedly shouted, “Abby! Why are you Glowing! What’s going on!”

I didn’t even get to finish the word “going” let alone “on” before she disappeared. Despite being as frightened and worried as I was, I managed to acknowledge that the landscape was suddenly much different. Instead of the open grassy field that we had been battling on the open doors of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. showed me a view of a forest that couldn’t be less than ten feet away. The open door also showed me that green blobs of goo were charging right at me.

Moving faster than I knew I could I jumped at the lever near the door and pulled it down roughly, putting a “shield” of sorts between me and the monsters. Not that it helped much since they decided that ramming themselves against the side of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. was as good as tearing me limb from limb. It only got worse when I tried to take off with the plan of finding Five from the air. As soon as the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. started to get itself off the ground those blobs that had been charging the side of the machine started piling on top of the hood, and the windshield, and the roof. Not only that but it seemed as though they were multiplying with the sole intent of weighing it down and crushing it, with me inside.

Now let’s face it. If you were about to be potentially crushed to death you would have freaked out just like I had. In fact you probably would have sounded something like, “Oh crud. Oh CRUD! I’m doomed! They’re going to crush me flatter than a piece of paper! I’m so dead that I’ll be sleeping with fishes!” Incase you’re wondering, this is exactly what I was screaming from the ground as dents were being made into the roof of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

In the end it turns out that I didn’t need to worry. The reason? There was a light. A pink blast of light that annihilated the blobs. When I got up from the ground and looked through the windshield…

…there was a redheaded, pink clad girl with a worried look on face as she peered inside of the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. and…

...and she was floating.   

 


	5. Episode 4: One Super Girl!

“The city of Townsville… has lost a hero.”Yes, that’s what the disembodied voice had said on that day. Like everyone else, I couldn’t understand it’s existence. Sometimes I would wonder why it was so fond of Townsville, but I always shrugged it off in the end.  Everyone seemed to like him. He was always quick to point out the good in life. Sometimes he’d retell the adventures my sisters and I had to other people. He could get a little annoying sometimes but he always meant well. Then - Then he said that, and my heart broke into little pieces.

For the first four months after it happened the three of us barely left the house. Professor to get groceries so that we wouldn’t starve, and Bubbles and I left to go to school only to fly home as quickly as possible. Even then it took us a month just to be able to stay there for a whole day.

During that time Bubbles and I slept in Professor’s room. We needed our dad more than ever. It was the tenth on the fifth month when Professor asked us if we wanted to start sleeping in our own room again. Both Bubbles and I were quiet for a moment, but then she giggled and nodded. Professor took that as an answer from both of us and when our curfew came we both entered the room we had neglected for so long. It isn’t like there was dust everywhere. Maybe a little here and some more there but it didn't blanket the room like I had expected it to. Bubbles was able to fall asleep right away, I didn’t. For the first couple of weeks back in our bedroom I couldn’t seem to bring myself so much as an hour of sleep. It just felt wrong not having a third person there.

During the sixth month I remembered that we were superheroes in the past. When I asked Professor who had been watching over Townsville he had told us that members of the Justice Friends would take time from their own cities to help out when our home was in trouble. I felt content with this answer, Bubbles felt no such thing. The next day she was out stopping one of Femme Fatale’s bank robberies, alone. When she came back victorious but with burnt clothing the Professor almost had a heart attack.

With fear clear in his voice he had yelled, “What do you think you were doing, don’t you realize how dangerous that was?!”

“My job.” She said bluntly. Confused he let out a simple, “Huh?” In a monotonous voice she said, “I’m a superhero.”, then she glanced over at me, “I was doing my job.” The next three weeks had been shaky between me and her after that. I’m still not sure what had caused that tension but it was there and it was obvious and it was horrible. Then that day happened.

“So...” Bubbles started sounding unsure of what she was about to ask. “Are you going to go on patrol tonight?” I gave her a hard look for a moment before saying, “No, and neither should you. You’re falling behind on your assignments.” I then turned back to the homework I had been working on.

“What assignments?” She asked curiously.

With a scoff I said, “It makes sense you wouldn’t know, wasting your school days away with “patrols” when you should just wait for the hotline to ring. Even then, there isn’t a point, right?”

Her face scrunched up, “What do mean “there isn’t a point”, huh?”

“Exactly what it sounds like.” I said as bluntly  and jaded as possible. Bubbles’ was quiet for a moment before she said - no commanded, “Come on patrol tonight. The Living Bullet is coming tonight and he’s bringing his kids, they’re super cute. Plus, being around actual Speedsters has taught me a lot. Like... how to figure out how many miles per hour I’m running while in action. What speeds I just shouldn’t allow myself to go. I can also read the terrain a lot better. ” I gave her another hard look before shaking my head to say that, no I was not going to go.

“Then what about tomorrow. Miss Spell is coming over, her magic is amazing. She’s really tough too. Oh, she’s also really, really nice. I think you’d like her! I do, actually I sorta look up to her. White Tiger is really cool too. Last Saturday he-”

Before she could finish what she was saying I gave the bluntest, “No.”, ever uttered by mankind. We sat silently at the dinner table for a moment until she asked, “Why not?”, genuinely confused.

“I don’t want to learn anything they have to “offer.” I’m perfectly content with what I’m learning in school.” I said disdainfully before pausing. When I continued I shot her my best scowl, “Besides, if you’re so eager to learn you should actually attend more that two days of school a week. Seriously, how do you plan on passing?”

Now wearing her own scowl Bubbles’ said, “Townsville needs someone to protect it! I’m that someone. Besides I already talked to Professor about getting home schooled.”

“What?”

“Huh? What, didn’t you hear? That Townsville needs u-”

“No!”, I growled as nearly snapped my pencil in half before I said, “That last part.”

“I’m being home schooled starting next week.”

“... You’re… No! You’re going to school tomorrow!” I shouted angrily. Looking back on it I have absolutely no idea why I was so upset. But I was and made it obvious. She only sunk back in her chair. “No.”

“Why not?!” I practically screamed. With cold eyes she said, “Because I’m a Superhero.” My own eyes narrowed, “No you’re not. We’re just kids!”

As she shouted he hit the table, “Yes, I am! It’s our job to sacrifice for the greater good, and I’m fine with that. Now tell me, why won’t you come on patrol with me!?”

Leaning back in my own chair I said, “I’ve decided to never do those these again.” As soon as those words left my mouth her eyes widened, “Why not?”, she asked. I didn’t answer which only served to make her angry, “I said why not?!” Deciding to continue my refusal of answering I got up and started walking towards by the living room… only to be caught by her grip. “Answer me!” She pleaded desperately.

Turning towards her I snapped, “Because I’m a human!”  pulling my hand from her grasp a started making my ways up the stairs. Standing at the bottom of the stairs she started to yell at me, “No we’re not! A-and even if we are we’re still different! We have gifts so we should use them!”

Not even turning to her as I spoke I said, “Well maybe I’ve chosen to not use those gifts.”

“What is wrong with you? You don’t act like yourself anymore!”

I turned towards her and screamed, “Shut up, you don’t what it’s been like for me!” Gawking she sputtered, “Don’t know? Don’t know! I’ve been going through the exact same thing!”

“Just leave me alone!” I cried out but instead she flew in front of me, her face just as red as mine.

“No! Why are you acting like this? Why’d you shut me out? Why have you been shutting everyone out?!” The only reply I gave her was a small shove to get past her.

Even angrier that before she shouted, “What are you so afraid of!?”

Turning to her as tears welled up in my eyes I shouted back, “Stop it! Why can’t you just leave me alone? All I want is to be alone!”

Then… then she opened her mouth and at the top of her lungs shouted the one thing I never, ever wanted here, “Do you really think Buttercup would want you to live like this?!!!”, and that’s when it happened. The one thing I never imagined that I’d do. The most horrible unforgiving thing I would ever do. It happened within a few seconds while I was blinded by anger. I slapped her clean across the face and given the fact that she was floating and my own strength she slammed straight into, and through, the wall into the upstairs bathroom. When my anger subsided, and my breathing returned to normal I looked at what I had done with wide eyes. Given our durability she was fine. She had even gotten up and started to brush the porcelain off her clothes, but that knowledge didn’t stop me from taking a sharp intake of breath. Then another… and another, and another, and another until I was reduced into a hyperventilating mess. With her large blue eyes showing concern “B-Blossom?”

“I-I-I didn’t-” I stuttered as I shook my head back and forth as clasped my hands together and moved them in front of my mouth as my eyes widened more, “I shouldn’t have- I didn’t mean to!”

Slowly she walked towards me with her hands in front of her. Her mouth was moving but I couldn’t hear her over my loud and wild breathing. What ever she was trying to do or say to comfort me, it was having the exact opposite effect.  When she reached her hand out to try and touched my shoulder I flinched away and…

I flew. Out of the house. Past Town Hall. Through the park. Above our old elementary school.

Away from Townsville, far, far away.

I only stopped when I looked into the sky and noticed the light twinkle of the stars as they started to awake for the coming night. Floating I turned around to see if anyone was behind me. There wasn’t. Frantically I looked to my right and my left, down and up, North and South, East and West. As I looked at where I was in all these different directions I realized I was lost, and very much alone. Before I could think about it for much longer that other thing started to happen. Waves of energy started to blanket the sky as they originated from nowhere yet somehow everywhere at once. Slowly, very slowly, with each passing wave the once blue sky started changing into a sickly, unpleasent shade of green.

Meanwhile on the ground the landscape started to change in the most bizarre ways possible. Everything, or at least most things, such as the forest below became a series of overlapping images. In other places the trees disappeared completely only to appear in a previously treeless place. Colors in some part of the forest were getting jumbled up as well. The leaves in the trees turned brown, and their trunks turned blue while nearby bodies of water turned green. These areas constantly changed back and forth to the point that I had to close my eyes and rub my head to eliminate the dizzyness. Upon opening my eyes it only took seconds until the entire landscape was enveloped in a bright light, temporarily blinding me. When my senses returned from the shock the light had caused them I took another good look below me. Everything, minus the still green sky, seemed normal.

  
Then I heard screaming from a bit aways, and out of instinct that I thought I had lost… I went to help someone in need of a hero.

 


	6. Episode 5: The Crash

I continued to pack supplies into my car all the while ignoring the awkward tension between us. Rook was currently staring at me. That’s it. That’s all he was doing. Usually I could care less if people were staring at me but the face he was making was really starting to piss me off. Finally I decided to stare back with a scowl as I slammed the trunk shut.

“What?” I had snapped.

Averting his eyes and scratching the back of his head he said, “Are you feeling well?” I gave him a hard look which made him look at his feet. Whether it was because he felt equally as awkward or maybe because I was scaring him I couldn’t tell.

Finally I answered him, “I feel fine. Why do you want to know anyway?”

Looking at me with concerned eyes he said, “You just seem… out of sorts. You are not acting like your usual self.”

“Shows what you know.” I grumbled under my breath.

“Excuse me?”

“I-er it’s nothing. Think you can help get the rest of these boxes into the back seat, Partner?” Still looking concerned Rook allowed a smile to spread on his face as he grabbed a couple of the boxes. I didn’t mean to worry anyone, honestly. I just got like this sometimes. Just about everyone I’m close to except for Rook knows this part of me. They've seen me at my worst. Like when I was willing to kill Kevin, one of my best friends, when his powers drove him crazy again. Or when I threatened to exterminate the Forever Knights when they killed Pierce in cold blood. Then of course there was the Ascalon incident. But Rook wasn’t there for any of that. He didn’t know how I could get, and I wanted it to stay that way.

The worst part about this whole thing? I have no idea what triggers it most of the time. This ruthless, cold and calculating side of me. It’s helped during the Highbreed Invasion, and on several other occasions too. Yet I get scared whenever I start acting this way, because of the things I’ve almost done. Acting the way I have been since Rook came to Earth, it makes me feel safer.

“Ben?” I was being weird, getting lost in thought while I stood by the small pile of supplies. “Sorry!” I shouted quickly before I started putting boxes into the back seat. Finally we had managed to cram it all into my car. Getting in I started the engine as I was about to leave the base and go on the ridiculously boring road trip to Los Soledad. However, Rook stopped me before I could even drive a foot forward.

Rolling down the window I asked, “What, did I forget something?”

For a moment he just looked at me, confusion and worry clear on his face, and then he asked for what had to be the twelfth time, “Are you sure you will be alright my friend?”

I gritted my teeth for about a second before smiling and saying, “I’m fine! What are you so worried about anyway?”

Thoughtfully he said, “As I did before I must note that you are acting… strangely. Plus there is the fact that you and I are not usually separated like this during missions.”

“Is that all? Look dude, everything is going to fine. I’m just going over to Los Soledad to port some off worlders here. Then I just have to stay for a couple of days and boss them around ‘till they understand their jobs. Meanwhile you get to go hang out with the research team. Nothing to worry about on either end.”

“But…”

“Dude, I’ve been on solo missions before. Everything is going to be fine.” I said as I started driving away slowly. “I’ll see you in about a week, Partner.” Rolling up the mirror I waved and quickly “put the pedal to the metal.” I had just wanted to get out of there. Not because I wanted to avoid Rook or anything. I just felt like I needed time to myself is all. I felt bad. Worried about getting too serious, or not letting myself be serious enough. That and I seemed to have managed to get everyone else on edge with my “new found” straight to the point attitude.

When I hit a red light I looked up briefly and said, “Yup, the sky is still green.”, and something that was getting closer and closer to Earth was the cause. For a moment I looked out into the streets and saw humans and aliens alike looking towards the sky. Seeing the aliens outside of Undertown made me happy yet even more worried. Seeing humans and the Earth dwelling aliens together always made me happy. Especially with all the low tolerance of each other that had been rearing it’s ugly head within the past few weeks. However, the fact that were so interested in the sky told me that whatever was coming next wouldn’t be pretty.

“Guwah!” I hollered when loud beeping sounded behind me. Guess the light itself had been green for a little while. I drove off quickly as I hopped none of the angry drivers that had been behind me would try and tail me.

Eventually I found myself driving past the “Now Leaving Bellwood!” sign. Soon after that green fields turned into a desert. I was on this road again. There was nothing really interesting out here. It was just one long road stretching across the desert that had become so familiar during the Highbreed invasion.

It was a calm ride. I figured I might have been able to sort everything out in my head - Get to a healthy medium, but then everything started to change. Miles and miles of sand transformed into a rain forest and back again within seconds. The sky illuminated in green waves that crashed into each other from every direction. Then there was this blinding light, and when it faded I was still driving on that long road. However, instead of the oh so familiar desert there were fields of grass surrounding me, and in front of me, in front of my car, was a girl wearing a red hat.

“Shit!” I panicked. I turned the steering wheel with such force I swear I almost ripped it out as I instinctively hit the breaks. I managed to avoid hitting her but before I could breath a sigh of relief my car went tumbling down a ditch that hadn't been there moments before, and everything went black.

I woke up to a voice yelling at me, “C’mon mister, you gotta wake up!”

Groaning I sat up a rubbed my head, “Ugh… What happened?”

“You almost hit Numbuh Five is what happened.”

Confused I repeated, “Number Five?” I blinked a few times as my vision swam. When I could see again I realized that this was in fact the kid I had almost ran over. “But why is she calling herself a number?”, I wondered.

“Can you stand mister?” She asked as she looked down at me from her kneeling position.

“Don’t call me ‘mister’, and yeah - I can stand.”

As I stood up on shaky legs she asked, “Then what is Numbuh Five suppose to call you?”

To say I gave her a unbelieving look would be an understatement. Pointing to myself I said, “You don’t know who I am?” She shook her head. “What kid doesn’t know who I am?” I thought. “You seriously don’t recognize me? I’m Ben Tennyson!” I asked dumbfounded.

Tilting her head she said, “Five don't think she's ever seen you until now. Have you met Numbuh Five before or something?”

“Again with the number thing! Why do you keep doing that?” Now it was her turn to look dumbfounded.

“You mean you don’t know? You are a teenager right?”

“What is there to understand? You keep calling yourself a number.” I said. Not whined. I don’t whine. Nope.

“You’re really out of the loop in this whole thing aren’t you mister?” She said as she stared up at me with a… What was the word. Oh, right perplexed. To my extreme annoyance she had a very perplexed look on her face.

Glaring down at her I said, “I was going to say the same about you.”

“Five” tilted her hat down in a way that covered her eyes and said, “Well, this is going nowhere. Better go find Two.” Turning she started scaling up the side of the ditch.

“Wait, where do you think you’re going?” I called up after her.

Still climbing she said, “Like I said, Numbuh Five gotta go find Two now. Good luck with your car by the way.”

 

“My car? Oh shit, my car!” I shouted as I turned and ran towards it. There really wasn’t a reason to run towards it. After all it was only a few feet away, but I ran anyway. It was flipped over onto it’s back, the driver’s door open. “Did she drag me out?” I wondered. Looking through the door I peered over at the boxes, most of which were miraculously unharmed. In fact the car itself didn’t look to damaged. A few dings here and there but most definitely savable and capable of being driven. “I just got to get it out of this ditch.”

“Well, there is a simple solution here.” I said as I looked at my wrist. Cycling through the various icons I tried to figure who would work best. Rath would just try to throw the car to the top of the ditch, Four Arms, while strong, could end up dropping it easily due to my own klutziness, so Humungousaur seemed like the best bet. I raised my hand up and then slammed on the hourglass piece.

The familiar green light encased me and I felt my body change. Skin turning to scale, bones growing and stretching, every last part of myself changing into a Vaxasaurian, into Humungousaur, except for my mind. As the light faded I carefully scooped my car into my now giant hands and easily made it out of the ditch. When I got to the rode I put it down wheels first onto the asphalt. I then slapped the circled hourglass on my chest and transformed back into the real me.

Only to hear the horrifyingly familiar sound of a blaster being locked and loaded. Slowly turning around I raised my hands in defense as I stared at the girl. Only seconds later did I find myself staring into the barrel of the strange gun she had pointed at me.

 


	7. Episode 6: Tennyson and Lincoln

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I really did try to keep on schedule but this ended up being in just as much of a hiatus as my other fanfics thanks to work and school. I finally have some free time to work on something not school related so I decided to update this story.

I stared in shock as I watched the huge orange thing turn back into the weirdo teenager I had just saved. He changed in a flash of green. Green. Out of instinct I immediately aimed the S.P.I.C.E.R. at the back of his head. Hearing the sound the weapon made the thing turned with his hands raised defensively in the air. He looked down at me with a scared expression. Then he blinked a few times and his expression was replaced with something… dark.

With narrowed eyes he asked, “Is there a reason you’re pointing that at me?”

Unfazed by the expression I said, “You’re a monster just like those things that made Numbuh Two disappear.”

His dark expression disappeared and was immediately replaced with an irritated one, “What things, and why do you keep calling yourself a number!?”

Shouting back I said, “Don’t play stupid! Numbuh Five knows you’re connected to those green globs of goo! There’s no other explanation!”

“Yes, there is!”, He shouted as he grabbed the barrel of my S.P.I.C.E.R. and forced it to point at the ground and got far to close to my face, “I’m Ben Tennyson! You know, the guy who saved the universe a couple of dozen times.”

Angrily I kicked him in the gut causing him to collapse with a grunt, “If you’re some kind of hero then how come Numbuh Five ain’t heard of you before?!”

Looking up at me as he clutched his stomach he said, “Hell if I know! For all I know you're some kind of shut in.”

“Numbuh Five isn’t a shut in!”, I screamed as I pointed my weapon at him again.

“Again with the numbers! And why d’you keep speaking in third person? It’s one thing when Rath does it but…”, He trailed off as his eyes moved from me to something behind me.

Narrowing my eyes I said, “What are you-”

“Move!” He yelled as he tackled me to the side. As we rolled I noticed a green blur jumping towards where I was seconds before. He stood up quickly and whipped his head side to side looking at the monsters. “These the blobs you were talking about?”

“You're not connected to them?” I asked as I got up. Looking around I noticed some more of the blobs getting closer.

“If I was would I save you?” He asked me with an irritated look on his face.

“Good point.” I admitted as I looked at the hord of blobs getting closer. The guy moved so that we were back to back.

“You fight these things already?” He asked as he looked over his shoulder.

“Yeah.”

“Got a plan?”

“Keep attacking until there’s room to escape?”

“Sounds good to me!”, He said as he tinkered with his watch thingy for few seconds. When he seemed happy he slammed down on it with a rough slap. As soon as it reappeared the green light was gone again and standing in the teen’s place was a man… made of rock and fire.

I jumped away from him in fear of getting burned. At the same time he sent several fireballs at the small hoard that was nearing us, disintegrating a few on the first hit. I just stood there staring. But really what else would you expect Numbuh Five to do in this kind of freaky situation, not stare at the human volcano-monster-thing standing in front of me?

Looking over at me the thing did something kind of similar to arching an eyebrow and asked, “Aren’t you going to help?”

I looked at him for a moment and then charged forward so that the monster were within range. This went on for sometime, him throwing fireballs while I fired the S.P.I.C.E.R. at the blobs. We kept destroying them, and more kept coming. One down, one comes. Luckily he noticed too.

“I don’t have much time before the Omnitrix times out! Any idea where these things are coming from?”

I jumped into the air and flipped over some of the globs that had tried to charge at me. When I landed I shouted, “The thing in the crater is what’s making so many of them!” Then continued to shoot at the enemy.

He looked around for a bit until he focused on the still smoldering hole on the opposite side of the road. Without warning he leaped into the air. At the peak of the jump he let out a fury of flames from his hands sending him higher and higher. Then he stopped producing flames for just a mere moment, twirled his body around mid air, then reigniting his flames he dive bombed. Upon impact with the crater a wave of heat  erupted sending any of the goo monsters nearby flying. Soon the monster started melting as they screamed in pain. Once they were nothing but puddles I ran towards the crater. Sitting there was the teen in his green jacket with equally green goo covering him, almost entirely from head to toe.

Standing up he rubbed his head in pain, “I really have to stop landing on my head when I do that.” Moving his hand away from his head he looked in horror as the goo stretched from his hair in a web like fashion to follow his hand. He then started shaking like a dog as he shouted, “Gross!”, over and over again as he tried to get the stuff off.  I laughed.

Looking up at me he shouted, “And what’s so funny exactly?!” I shook my head and started to walk away. Now that those things are gone I knew I could finally go look for Two.

“Hey, wait!”, He shouted as he pulled himself out of the crater.

“I remember you said you were looking for a friend, do you need help?”, He asked concerned.

“Are you offering?”, I asked.

“Well, I have a mission and all but it would be pretty unheroic to leave a kid wandering around at a time like this, right?”

  
Neither of us had realized it at the time but this was when our rather interesting friendship began.


	8. Episode 7: Lost In The Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dex POV

My family and I had gotten to the campsite not long ago by this point in time. Dee Dee and Father had taken it upon themselves to set up the tents together while Mother set out food for lunch on the picnic table. Briefly I looked up from my notepad and over to the tents with a scowl. I hated camping. It was all so primitive. Why on earth would you go outside where there were bugs, and wild animals, and sleep in the dirt when you had a perfectly good house that itself had a perfectly good oven, fridge, bed and bathroom.

“Hurrrrhg…”, I shuddered when I realized we would all most likely have to “go” outside. Knowing my father this place he had handpicked wasn’t even a mile close to a functional bathroom.

Briefly I looked over at my mother and realized she was probably dealing with the situation worse than I was. Compared to most I’d be considered a germaphobe, but if I were to compare myself to Mother she’d be the germaphobe. It ‘twas uncommon to see the woman without the latex gloves, even now. Refocusing I repositioned myself on the hood of the car and continued writing in my notepad. At first it was to just deal with stress. I had wrote a “revenge list” that, in all honesty, I had no intention of carrying out. It had all the names of the scientists and Superheroes who had brushed me off when I went to find help. Even Major Glory, a hero I had once idolized. On the side of the paper were some rather crude comments that would, should my parents ever find this, almost certainly get me grounded.

Despite having started as a destresser the notepad had quickly become jumbled with notes and a timeline of my research about “Planet Fuse”, as it had been deemed. Briefly I looked up at the green tinted sky that hung above my head before burying myself back into my notes. Silently I scribbled a picture of my “wondrous” time machine. Honestly, I should have known better. I had created such machines before and the results had never ended well. I had taken apart every time machine I had ever built before any of them even reached a day in age because of this. Now that I think about it, any time I had tampered with temporal forces something bad had happened. Not world changing mind you, just minor things that either got me slapped or that I had to fix.

Yet, I had been so sure that the still operating time machine in my lab was designed well enough that it would somehow be Dee Dee proof. Maybe it was ego, or desperation, or both. I’m not sure what it was but now it’s entirely possible that the girl who had so courageously volunteered was dead. To make it worse I, at the time of the camping trip, had wholeheartedly blamed Dee Dee. I refused to see how it had been my fault. A cold wind blew by and I had clutched my labcoat to myself. Before we had left I had convinced Father that it was the only coat I could find, mostly because I needed something familiar at the time.

“Dexter, sweetie, can you go get some firewood?”, Mother asked as she started setting out plated.

I looked at her for a moment, rare confusion stretching across my face before asking, “Why? Weren’t they going to get some?”

“Yes, but I have a feeling they had gotten sidetracked with fishing. You know, like they did last year?”

I groaned as I remembered the event before sliding off of the hood. I tucked the notepad into my coat pocket and headed out. I heard a faint cry of “Stay on the path!” as I entered the woods. I had shook my head when she said this. After all, to get decent firewood I’d more than likely have to stray from the path on some level.

I didn’t really concentrate on my task at first. For awhile I just stood in a clearing and looked up at the sky. Eventually I snapped out of my stupor and did what I was told to do. Slowing grabbing branches, edging further and further from the path. Everything had been fine, but then my hands began the shake as I looked at the sky above. It wasn’t the green tint that made my hands shake, it was what was falling from the sky. Several glowing green meteors streaked through the sky as they plummeted to Earth.

And that’s when it happened. This horrible explosion of pain in my stomach. Dropping the branches I clutched at it and screamed, falling to my knees. As I took in several sharp breaths I looked around. Everything was flickering, and my mind felt like static. I managed to look up towards the sky, barely seeing through the canopies of the trees. There were waves of light flooding the sky, colliding together and turning something that should be blue, greener and greener. Pain suddenly struck the back of my skull, clutching the back of my head I found my myself convulsing on the dirt of the ground.

Then suddenly… it stopped. Blinking I sat up, dirt musing up my once pure white labcoat. Looking around I realized that my surroundings were different. Still a forest, but the trees around me weren’t the same species as they had been moments early, and no path in site. I became frantic then. Getting up I began screaming for Mother and Father… and Dee Dee. A gust of wind swept past me causing me to bury myself into my labcoat. Had I been half as logical as I usually was I would have stayed there. I would have waited. Instead I was panicking, trying to find the campsite.

  
I ran deeper into the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Since I haven’t gotten to write this story in so long I went back and reread the previous chapters. Now I’m all OCD about the mistakes I just now noticed went under the radar during the editing process. I’ll probably go on some kind of mass editing spree later. 
> 
> Also I’m sorry getting chapters out has been so slow. Y’know, life happens. Thankfully winter break gave me some free time, and now that I’m starting to get into the groove thank to updating my other stories, and starting a new one (dear god what’s wrong with me XP) these should be cranked out sooner. Fun fact time: Fusionfall seems like it may have gotten a “spiritual successor” in the form of a comic called “Cartoon Network Super Secret Crisis War”, I don’t know much about it but it seems interesting.
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please review.


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